Many devices have been developed for tracking a user's performance during exercise. For example, GPS watches can track the distance traveled by a user wearing the watch, pedometers can track the number of steps a user takes, and other sensors can be used to measure one or more physiological parameters of the user during exercise such as a heart rate. Such devices include hardware for performing the desired measurements and firmware for controlling the hardware in the appropriate manner.
With such devices, it is common to provide periodic updates to the firmware to improve the functionality of the devices in some manner. For example, firmware updates often fix an error device's firmware that was not initially known but was manifest during use of the device. Firmware updates can also take advantage of hardware capabilities that were previously unused by prior versions of the firmware.
In such cases, the firmware initially provided with the hardware and any updates to the firmware are generic in the sense that they are not custom tailored to any particular device. For example, firmware or a firmware update may be specific to a group of devices (e.g. a specific model of a phone), but is not customized based on a characteristic unique to a particular device. Because of this, when a firmware update is created, the update is generally released to the general public so that anyone with the intended device can download the update to the intended device. In this way, all updated devices receive the same version of the firmware update.